Fated To Three Betrayed By All Until She Rose (Leilani) by Ahvahh novel Chapter 170

Chapter 170: Him.

Zevran.

"I cannot do this anymore," I whispered to myself as I stood in front of Caelum’s bed in a daze.

My mind was a whirlwind of several conflicting thoughts; and while on one hand, I was worried about Caelum, on the other hand, my mind wouldn’t stop drifting back to Leilani and to the conversation we had earlier this evening before she lost consciousness.

Her words still echoed in my mind like melodies from a broken guitar, and the thought of letting go of her, of watching her live the life life always envisioned with another man filled me with a kind of anguish that felt too much to bear.

My chest ached tremendously when I simply thought about it and I couldn’t stop sweating despite standing so close to the air conditioner.

—So imagine what would happen when it finally happens?

Again, my eyes drifted to Caelum’s pale face and I shuddered when I remembered how he had come to be like this. How he had shocked us all by throwing himself in front of a bullet— one that would’ve either hit me or Leilani.

Sighing, I dropped my head and closed my eyes; And when I opened them again, because I could smell the unmistakable scent of Chalice’s sugary perfume, I whipped my head back and hissed;

"What are you doing here?"

At the sound of my voice, she froze. She carefully lowered her head meekly, trying so hard to paint herself like the saint that she wasn’t.

When she wouldn’t respond, my eyes raked over her body slowly and I seethed; "Didn’t you faint like some hours ago? How are you here now?"

And at that, she lifted her head.

I couldn’t help but notice then that her eyes were swollen and red. She looked like she had spent the entire evening crying; And even from here I could hear the steady thumping of her heartbeat as she bounced from one foot to the other.

She whispered; "The doctor said that it was something minor and that it was due to the pregnancy; So he let me go after letting me rest for a while."

My eyes thinned into slits as I watched her, not believing a single word that had just come out of her mouth. But deciding that she was too insignificant to worry about at the moment, I looked away and drawled; "Okay."

A moment of silence passed between us before she spoke again. She muttered;

"I know that I am not supposed to be here... seeing as you three have ordered me to not leave the house until told otherwise—"

"It’s a house arrest." I snickered sarcastically, interrupting her, whilst wondering if she was simply trying to dilute the severity of her punishment or if she indeed didn’t know what it was called.

She turned to cast me a glance but then looked away. Her voice soft as she continued; "I had to come because I wanted to see Caelum after hearing about what happened."

"It’s alright."

"No, it’s not." She argued, forcing me to turn to her in confusion.

I cocked my eyebrows when I took in the stubborn set of her chin, and I snorted; "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that this wouldn’t have happened to him if you three didn’t take it upon yourself to look for Leilani. It’s her fault that she got into trouble, not yours! Gosh, nowadays, it seems as if she’s the one you’re married to and not me!"

"And you’re the one to talk?" I asked before I could stop myself, and frowned when her face fell.

Her bottom lips puckered out and from how she lowered her lashes, looking away, I immediately knew that she was about to cry.

And I couldn’t handle that right now.

I added; "She was in danger." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"And did any of you stop to check if I was fine, myself? See I get that you don’t want to see me but what about the baby? Our baby?"

Something about her words grated on my nerves. It made my eyes twitch in discomfort. I looked away from her because— I couldn’t stand her anymore, and because I couldn’t stop seeing Leilani’s face in hers— and spat;

"You’re fine, Chalice. Not everything has to be about you."

My words made her recoil as if she’d been physically struck by me; and with widened eyes, she took a shaky step back and shook her head as tears began to fall freely down her face.

She cried; "You don’t even hide it anymore!"

"What don’t I hide anymore?" I hissed.

"You don’t hide how much you’ve chosen her over me! You don’t hide how you don’t care about me anymore. And in case you’ve all forgotten, I am your wife! Your wife! And she’s an outsider!"

I wanted to remind her that Leilani would’ve never been the outisider if it wasn’t for the petty stunts she’d pulled in the past. I wanted to inform her that in the grand scheme of things, she was the real outsider, but I didn’t.

Instead, I glanced away from her, turned my attention to an unconscious Caelum and drawled;

"She’s your sister, and for that reason, she’s not an outsider."

Chalice didn’t respond.

Which was the opposite to reality.

"Zevran!"

"You say we make you feel like a whore... but you’re always acting like one."

"Stop please, you’re hurting me!" She cried softly, covering her face in her hands, but did I care?

Of course I didn’t.

"You think sex is the answer to all the problems in the world, and I cannot stand it. I cannot stand you. So please, get off my face!" I snarled, and with that, I brushed past her and stormed out of the room.

I had no idea where I was headed, as long as I was as far away from her as possible.

My feet moved on their own accord, leading me to Leilani’s room and I froze when I saw a guy standing in front of the door and peeking into the room.

His face was barely visible due to the large hoodie he wore, but I could still make out the few strands of silver hair that had escaped from beneath the hoodie and now fanned the side of his face.

But it wasn’t his appearance that rubbed off on me in a weird way...

It was his aura.

It was strong. Potent. And the closest to the kind I’d felt from Leilani just yesterday.

As if noticing my presence, he turned to peek at me from the corner of his hoodie and I gasped when I was met with shiny purple eyes— just like Leilani’s.

I should’ve spoken but my tongue felt glued to the roof of my mouth. My knees felt weak too and heavy, making it impossible for me to move.

And then he turned and walked away silently, disappearing behind a dark hallway.

It wasn’t until he was gone that I could finally let out an exhale, and even the weakness in my knees miraculously disappeared too.

My eyes widened when it dawned on me that the reason I hadn’t moved or spoken earlier wasn’t because I had been too stunned to,

...It was because I had been compelled— by him.

Goddess, how is that even possible?